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Dianne "Di" Thorley AM (born 1 December 1949 in Stanthorpe, Queensland) is an Australian politician and a former mayor of Toowoomba, Queensland.
Thorley trained as a nurse in Brisbane and later took up a nursing position at Stanthorpe Hospital. She also spent some time working as a governess in Blackall. She moved to Toowoomba in 1986, where she worked and owned a number of businesses in the local hospitality industry. [1] [2]
Thorley was elected as a Councillor on Toowoomba City Council in 1997 and became mayor in 2000. She was returned to office for a second term in 2004. [3] [4]
On 26 June 2007, Thorley confirmed that she would not seek re-election for mayor in March 2008, or any other council position.
Thorley spent time running The Lady Franklin Hotel in Franklin, Tasmania before returning to Queensland. In 2016, Thorley ran as an independent candidate in a by-election for the Electoral district of Toowoomba South in the Queensland Legislative Assembly. [5] [6] [7]
In light of the region's worst drought in a hundred years, which saw the city's dam storages fall below 25% capacity, in 2006 Mayor Di Thorley championed a plan (Toowoomba Water Futures) to build a recycled sewage plant that would process the city's sewage and use the resulting water for re-use. [8] Because of health and public concerns, the recovered sewage water was to be pumped into one of the city's dams that provide drinking water, where it would be allowed to mix with rainwater collected by the dam, before being redrawn and retreated for distribution to homes. The project was controversial as the first of its kind to be proposed in Australia. The only other similar plant in existence is in Singapore which recycles 1% sewage water. The Water Futures project proposed recycling 25-29% for potable use.
A referendum determining community support for the project was held on 29 July 2006 in which a majority (61.87% of voters) said "No" to the proposal. [8]
Toowoomba, nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. It is located 132 km (82 mi) west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 census was 142,163, having grown at an average annual rate of 1.45% over the previous two decades. Toowoomba is the second-most-populous inland city in Australia after the nation's capital, Canberra. It is also the second-largest regional centre in Queensland and is often referred to as the capital of the Darling Downs. The city serves as the council seat of the Toowoomba Region.
New England Highway is an 883-kilometre (549 mi) long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland, at its northern end to Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales, at its southern end. It is part of Australia's National Highway system, and forms part of the inland route between Brisbane and Sydney.
The Shire of Jondaryan was a local government area located in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, immediately west of the regional city of Toowoomba. The shire, administered from the town of Oakey, covered an area of 1,910.0 square kilometres (737.5 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity from 1890 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the Toowoomba area to form the Toowoomba Region. Its growth in later years has been fuelled by the expansion of Toowoomba and suburbs such as Glenvale and Westbrook.
The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultivated area grows the most diverse range of commercial fruit and vegetables of any area in Australia. The valley is referred to as "Australia's Salad Bowl" to describe the area as one of Australia's premium food bowls.
Michael James Horan, AM is a former Australian politician who represented the seat of Toowoomba South in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 18 May 1991 to 24 March 2012. Originally he was a member of the National Party of Australia, but follow its merger he sat as a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland until his retirement.
The City of Toowoomba was a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, encompassing the centre and inner suburbs of the regional city of Toowoomba. The City covered an area of 116.5 square kilometres (45.0 sq mi), and existed as a local government entity in various forms from 1860 until 2008, when it amalgamated with several other councils in the surrounding area to form the Toowoomba Region.
The Cooby Dam is a rock–fill embankment dam with an un–gated spillway across the Cooby Creek, a tributary of Condamine River, at Groomsville in the Toowoomba Region on the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. The main purpose of the dam is for potable water supply of the Toowoomba region. The impounded reservoir is called the Cooby Creek Reservoir.
On 29 July 2006, the City of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia held a referendum on the controversial issue of using recycled water from the city's sewers as a source for drinking water.
Football Queensland Darling Downs is a Football Queensland administrative zone encompassing the Darling Downs region and parts of South West Queensland. The zone administers major regional areas including Toowoomba, Dalby, Roma, Charleville, St George, Goondiwindi and Stanthorpe. The premier men's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Premier League 3 − Darling Downs and the premier women's soccer competition is the Football Queensland Women's Premier League 3 − Darling Downs. Football Queensland Darling Downs also has a numerous variety of lower divisions for both men and women, as well as academy and junior competitions to develop soccer and fitness within the region.
The Southern railway line serves the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The 197-kilometre (122 mi) long line branches from the Western line at Toowoomba, 161 kilometres (100 mi) west of Brisbane, and proceeds south through Warwick and Stanthorpe to the New South Wales/Queensland state border at Wallangarra.
Water supply and sanitation in Australia is a topic concerning the consumption and obtainment of water for the Australian population. Being the driest inhabited continent in the world, and also one of the highest consumers of water per capita, both the acquisition and usage of water are of concern to Australians. Issues such as climate change and global warming are expected to impact the supply of water in Australia in the future, which can lead to severe consequences such as prolonged droughts.
James Douglas Annand was an Australian politician and mayor of Toowoomba, Queensland. Serving for 22 years between 1924 and 1952, he was Toowoomba's longest-serving mayor. Born in Ipswich but raised in Toowoomba, he operated a drapery business for many years and also owned land near Hannaford in the Surat district.
Anthony James Bourke is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal Party member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1976 to 1980, representing the electorate of Lockyer. A long-term Toowoomba councillor, he later served as Mayor of Toowoomba from 1997 to 2000.
The Town of Sandgate is a former local government area of Queensland, Australia, located in northern Brisbane adjacent to Moreton Bay.
Storm King Dam is a reservoir created by the dam of the same name in the locality of Storm King in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It provides water for the town of Stanthorpe.
A by-election was conducted for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Toowoomba South on 16 July 2016, following the 29 April resignation of LNP MP John McVeigh. McVeigh resigned after he was preselected as the LNP candidate for the federal division of Groom at the 2016 federal election.
Storm King is a rural locality in the Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2021 census, Storm King had a population of 106 people.
George Nathan Seymour is an Australian politician currently serving as the mayor of Fraser Coast Region in Queensland. Prior to his election to the mayoralty in a 2018 by-election, Seymour served as the Deputy mayor of Fraser Coast from 2013 to 2018, and the Councillor for Division 10 from 2012 to 2018. He also served as Acting Mayor between February and May 2018. Seymour was re-elected in 2020 with one of the highest primary votes in the State of 77.55% and again in 2024 with a primary vote of 74.89%.